MOSS
Program Overview
In October 2015, we are launching a grant program of up to $1 million specifically focused on supporting the Open Source and Free Software movement. We invite you to help further develop the program and to participate in identifying and championing grantees.
Mozilla is a part of the Open Source and Free Software movement. We were born out of this movement. We prosper because of the technology and activism which comes from this movement. And we know that Open Source and Free Software remains a key part of the Internet and the online life we seek to build. We have had a grant program for many years. Now it is time to formalize a systematic way to provide a new level of support to this community
The Mozilla Open Source Support Awards program is designed to recognize and celebrate communities who are leading the way with open source projects that contribute to our work and the health of the Web. It encompasses both: a) a “give back” element for Open Source and Free Software projects that Mozilla relies on; and b) a “give forward” component for supporting other projects where financial resources from Mozilla can make our entire community more successful.
Project Criteria: Projects Mozilla Relies On
Mozilla relies on a number of open source and free software projects. In some cases the software produced by these projects isincorporated into Mozilla products. In other cases we rely on as part of our infrastructure or to get our jobs done. Projects which fit into this category and who are in need of funds are welcome to apply for an award.
- Awards should be jointly submitted by the leader of a project and an established Mozillian who will champion the grant.
- The Mozillian may be (but does not need to be) a project contributor to the project they are championing.
- The Mozillian must vouch for the usefulness of the software, commit to monitoring the project, and report on the effectiveness of the grant after the money is spent. They will also work with the application evaluation committee to help them assess the appropriateness of the grant to the needs of the project.
- The money must be used to benefit the project, but it does not have to be used on things which themselves would directly benefit Mozilla.
- Grant requests should be for the amount of financial support that helps accomplish a clear and current project goal. Projects that don’t have a need for funds at this time can be considered when such a need arises. A $10,000 grant request is just as valid as a $50,000 or $100,000 request. A previous award proposal, successful or unsuccessful, does not disqualify a project from applying again.
- The project’s home can be anywhere in the world where we can make payment without undue burden. We have a reasonably strong preference for funding legal organizations rather than individuals representing projects, although exceptional circumstances could lead to some flexibility.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/MOSS#Current_List_of_Projects_Mozilla_Relies_On
Current List of Projects Mozilla Works With
Mozilla’s mission is big and ambitious. And fortunately, we’re not alone in our work. There are many other groups that are pursuing similar or related goals and that we would like to see succeed. We want to do more to recognize those projects and nurture them along, and propose to begin by taking a look at all the free software and open source projects Mozilla relies upon, either incorporated in our products or that we rely upon as infrastructure.
This section is intended as a gathering place for information on those projects. As a starting point, it lists each project along with a short statement of how we depend on it. Where practical it would also be helpful to identify a Mozillian most closely associated with our use of each project, as next steps will involve contacting each one to find out more about how we can best provide support.
This is a work in progress - please contribute to this list.
| Project | Description | Contact | Candidate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ansible | Used by A-Team to manage deployments | GPS? | Probably not |
| BuildBot | The base system currently in use for release automation - to be replaced by Task Cluster. We shouldn’t contribute to BuildBot as we’re moving off of it. | n/a | Probably not |
| Clang/LLVM | C/C++ compiler and infrastructure | Ehsan Akhgari | n/a |
| Docker | Used by release engineering for Linux build and test containers and by ateam for managing test and production services. | Member of Selena Deckelmann's team | n/a |
| Git | Version control system - https://git.mozilla.org | n/a | n/a |
| jemalloc | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| libvpx (Google) | Library for support of Google’s VP* family of codecs | Tim Terriberry | n/a |
| Linux | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mercurial | Version control system and source code management. | GPS | n/a |
| Nagios | IT management system. Used for notifications of system failures. | IT or Amy Rich's team | n/a |
| nICEr | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| nrappkit | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Python | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Review Board | The base of MozReview, the new review tool being developed to replace Splinter. | Steven MacLeod | n/a |
| Selenium | Browser test driver. | Confirm still in use. | n/a |
| SQLite | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Subversion | Planning to decommission in near future https://svn.mozilla.org | n/a | Probably not. |
| Travis | Continuous integration system used by several teams | Jonathan Griffin's team | n/a |
| WebRTC.org (Google) | Components to support real-time communication in browsers and mobile applications. | Randell Jesup | n/a |
Other Projects
In the future, MOSS will have other tracks. We are developing one with a particular focus on providing security audit and remediation for key projects with a significant attack surface and exposure. These may have similar or different application criteria, or they may not have a public application process at all.
How To Apply
Please fill out this form to be considered for MOSS.
FAQs
Q: This program seems unfinished right now. Why are you launching it in this state?
A: The foundational elements are clear. We are going to invest in the open source and free software projects. We are going to start with a significant amount of money. We will start with open source and free software project that Mozilla is relying on. This is a crisp, clear criteria and a good way to start our larger program. We have an aggressive timeframe for a first set of grants to demonstrate we mean action.
Once the foundations are clear, we could take a couple of different approaches. One is to go off and create a fully polished program where we’ve decided exactly how things will work. Another approach is to present the program while there is real room for your ideas, and for the cluefulness that is spread through Mozilla to make a program that represents all of us.
We've chosen the latter approach. The cynical of you may say “hah, time is short, and that favors announcing this before all the terms are finalized.” You are correct that time is short. However, the latter approach also reflects our view that many Mozilla activities are better when people of different perspectives and unexpected expertise and interest are involved. We hope you prove us right!
Q: What’s the evaluation process?
A: That’s in process. Input welcome.
Q: How can I get started while the terms of the application and evaluation process are being finalized?
A: Here are some things you can do immediately:
- Do some due diligence with your colleagues. Find out if others share your sense of a project’s impact.
- Identify a contact inside the project who is a good person tot all to about such things. Not every project needs funds all the time. Explore whether there is a current need within the project that could be reduced or fixed withe a MOSS Award. If there is such a need then turn to exploring the size of the amount. Think about the impact that could occur at several different ranges of money.
- If you find a project you care about has other types of needs, note that in the project list identified in item 1 above.
- If you are interested in participating in the finalization of the program criteria, join the discussion.
Q: Can I get help with thinking about or preparing a proposal? I’m not that practiced at figuring out ranges of funding, or I’d like help in thinking about the need.
A: So far we have two identified mentors: David Bryant and Pascal Finette. David is obviously clueful about software, and he’s also signed on to assist with the topics of project needs, possible solutions and appropriate amounts. For those of you who don’t know Pascal, he launched WebFWD when he was a Mozilla employee and now runs Singularity University’s accelerator program. Pascal has a long history and an abiding love of working with people to build things. He has great expertise in this type of task, matching by his abiding interest in contributing to Mozilla. We’ll look into adding to this list.
Q: What does it mean to “champion” a project for a MOSS Award?
A: Being a champion means you believe in the project and its impact. You believe that funds from a MOSS Award would make a meaningful difference in the success and effectiveness of the project. And you believe the range of funds requested in the Award proposal is appropriate. In the case of the “give=back” category of awards you should also also believe that project has meaningful impact on Mozilla’s work.
A champion does a few different things:
- sponsors the project’s award proposal. It is akin to vouching for someone.
- serves as the liaison between that project and Mozilla with regard to the award and hopefully ongoing interaction
- reviews the effectiveness of the award funds after an agreed up on period to help Mozilla improve the effectiveness and impact of the MOSS Award program.
Q: Is there an amount of an award that is expected? Or a size that is too big or too small?
A: In the next week we expect to identify a range within which we prefer the Awards proposals land, and to have some guidance what to do if you believe an Award really should be smaller or larger.
Q: What’s happening by Orlando?
A: Identification of the first set of projects we want to celebrate and fund. This way we can make the program tangible while we are together.
Q: How does the $1 million work? Does it all get allocated at Orlando? How does the $1 million interact with the “up to 10 projects”?
A:The $1 million is the initial allocation for the MOSS Awards. We will evaluate the program as we go. It is our hope and expectation that the program provides value to the recipients and the Open Source ecosystem, and we expect to make additional allocations to the MOSS Awards in the future.
We want to focus on making up to 10 good awards, to projects we think are great, and where an award can make a real difference, and where we’ve had time to interact with the project and its leadership. More than 10 is difficult to impossible to do well before Orlando. Indeed, 10 may be more than we can complete well.
It is conceivable that the 10 awards could use the entire first $1 million allocation, but this is not a goal and unlikely.
Q: What if the project I care most about doesn’t have a legal organizational home? I see this is disfavored and exceptional circumstances are required. What might these be?
A: This is where you’ll tell us. Describe why it’s so important that this project be recognized, even though the level of complexity and risk goes up in this setting. We’ll listen because Mozilla is a pretty flexible organization, but we can’t promise the result will be as you hope.
Q: How can I stay informed and involved with this work?
A: Please join our public mailing list.
Q: This program seems unfinished right now. Why are you launching it in this state?
A: The foundational elements are clear. We are going to invest in the open source and free software projects. We are going to start with a significant amount of money. We will start with open source and free software project that Mozilla is relying on. This is a crisp, clear criteria and a good way to start our larger program. We have an aggressive timeframe for a first set of grants to demonstrate we mean action.
Once the foundations are clear, we could take a couple of different approaches. One is to go off and create a fully polished program where we’ve decided exactly how things will work. Another approach is to present the program while there is real room for your ideas, and for the cluefulness that is spread through Mozilla to make a program that represents all of us.
I've chosen the latter approach. The cynical of you may say “hah, time is short, and that favors announcing this before all the terms are finalized.” You are correct that time is short. However, the latter approach also reflects our view that many Mozilla activities are better when people of different perspectives and unexpected expertise and interest are involved. We hope you prove us right!